Machine for cutting composition shingles



March 18, 1924. 1,487,662-

S. M. LANGSTON MACHINE FOR CUTTING COMPOSITION SHINGLES Filed July 11 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet I March 18 1924,

s. M. LANGSTON MACHINE FOR CUTTING COMPOSITION SHINGLES Fild July 11 1922 .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 18, 1924.

OFFICE.

SAMUEL M. LANGSTON, F WENONAH, NEW J MACHINE FOR CUTTING COMPOSITION SHIN'GLES.

Application filed July 11, 1922. Serial No. 574,273.

To all it maywoncern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL M. LANGSTON,

a citizen of the United States, and resident notches, slots, or recesses and intervening tab or projecting portions, the latter simulating individual shingles when the strips are laid in staggered overlapping relationship.

Shingle strips of this type are commonly made by feeding a sheet of prepared material through a machine having cutting mechanism for forming a series of transverse rows of slots or apertures, and for subdividing the sheet into the finished strips along lines intersecting a plurality of said slots or apertures.

In one type of shingle strip, the slots in the longitudinal edge serve merely to form a dividing line between adjacent tabs or individual shingle simulating projections and a width of about one-half inch'has become fairly standard as being wide enough to create the desired appearance, and not so widens to materially reduce the covering effect to be secured by the strips. The depth of the slots is made substantially equal to the width of the exposed part of the strip. With a given width of strip, the proportion of overlapped to exposed parts may var according to the thickness or quality 0 the material, the angle of the roof or other surface to .be covered, and the ideas of the user as to appearance and economy of material.

()ne object of my invention is to permit of the cutting of the slots of any desired length with the minimum substitution of parts in the machine.

A further object is to provide means whereby the machine may be changed by simple substitution of a few arts so as to cut slots or apertures of any esired size or proportion.

A further object is to provide an improved means for positively removing the cut out pieces from thesheet, so that they will not be carried along with the sheet or strips and be included in the stack of finished strips, and without punching or otherwise mutilating them, so that if of the proper size and shape they may constitute a'valuable byproduct useful as individual shingles.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out in the following description, or will be apparent from a consideration of the specific form illustrated in" the drawings. In these drawings:

Fig. l'is a .vertical longitudinal section showing diagrammatic-ally the relationship of the operating parts of a machine.

Fig. 2 is a similar section in a difierent plane and on a larger scale through the slot forming mechanism.

Figs. 3 and 4 are sections on the lines 3 and 44 respectively of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, and

Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 show different ways in which the sheet may be cut-by different adjustments of the machine.

' In Fig. 1 certain of the operating parts are diagrammaticallyillustrated, and in Fig.

6 there is shown a sheet with the successive cuts as they are formed durin of the sheet through the machine. The machine has a pair of rotary members '10 and 11, coacting to form one or more series of parallel transverse slits a in the sheet A, as it is fed between these members. Beyond the members 10, 11, is a pair of simiiarme'mhere 12 and 13, which are so positioned and adjusted as to cut a second series of transverse slits 1) arranged in the same row with the slits a. All of the slits a and b are of the same length and the slits of one series are arranged alternately with those of the other; The sheet then passes between a pair -of coacting members 14, 15,.which out rows of pairs of longitudinal slits c, the two-slits of each pair connecting the ends of a slit 1; to the ends ot a slit 1) to circumscribe ordefine a rectangular piece d which is removed from the sheet by the members 14, 15, soas the passage to leave one or more rows of apertures in the sheet. The sheet then passes through out-- The members 10 and 11 are preferably constructed substantially as shown in Figs. 1

and 2. One of the members, for instance the member 10, constitutes a platen, and presents one or more hardened steel surfaces 18 coated surface preferably comes toward the platen roller, and thus the knife 18 in cutting through the sheet material doesnot need to directly engage the platen surface as an efiicient cut will be secured if the knife passes through the body of the sheet but not neoessaril through the mineral coating. The mem ers 10 and 11 may be mounted on shafts and 21, and these shafts may be rotatably adjusted in respect to each other, or the members 10 and 11 may be rotatably adjusted on their respective shafts to bring the cutting edge against different portions of the' surface of the hardened surface to distribute wear on the latter. The hardened blocks or plates 18 are detachably secured to the body portion of the member 10 so that they may be removed and replaced by new ones at any time desired. Any suitable attaching means may be employed, but as shown, each member 18 lies in a longitudinal groove in the surface of the member 10, and is held in place by a pair of screws 22.

Each knife 19 is preferably 'mounted in a radially disposed longitudinaily extending slot in the surface of the me her 11, and is held in lace by a pair of setscrews 23. The mem r 18 may be of a length equal to the maximum length which is required for any ordinary-slot or aperture in a roofing sheet, and the grooves in the member 11 may be adapted for the maximum length of knife. The knife may have a cutting edge portion 2/4'projecting beyond the outer edge of the groove, and of a length equal to the desired length of the slit 'a. The members 10 and 11 may be adjusted endwise on their respective shafts to secure the desired positioning of the row of slits in respect to the edge'of the sheet. or the knives 23 may be adjusted endwise of their grooves to accomplish the same result. Any desirednumber of the members 10 and 11 may be mounted on the shafts 20, 21 in accordance with the number of rows of slits 0, which are to be cut in the sheet.

As previously noted the members 12 and 13 may be identical with the members 10 and 11. but they are spaced from the members 10 and 11 at such a distance,-0r they are rotatably adjusted about their axes,

so that the cuts 7) resulting from the knives on the member 13 are in the same" row with the cuts a made by the knives of the member' 11, but each slit 6 is spaced at the desired distance from the next adjacent slit 0. The. members 12 and 13 are shown as mounted on shafts 25, 26, and the spacing of the 7 slits a. and b may be accomplished'by a rotary adjustment of one pair of shafts in respect to the other, oi bya rotary adjustment of one pair of members on their shafts. The members are shown as'secured to the shafts by set screws which permit of coarse adjustment, and the shafts are preferably secured to their respective driving gears, as shown in my Patent No. 1,462,138, issued July 17, 1923, to facilitate the rotary adjustment of the'shafts themselves. By forming each alternate slot 0, with one pair of rotary members, and by forming the intermediate slots 12 with 'a separate pair, the positionof the severai slots 6 may be adjusted in respect to the adjacent slots 5; without any substitution of parts, and therefore, as will appear from Fig. 6, the length of each slot or recess in the edge of the finished strip may be varied at will, without making any change in the cutting mechanism which forms the transverse cuts and defines the position of the ends of these slots or recesses.

The members 14 and 15 coact to connect the two ends of each slot a. to the two ends of an adjacent slot 1) to circumscribe and cut out a piece d. The lower member 15 is shown as including a body portion 26 having a pair of annular members 28 rigid- 1y clamped thereto and spaced apart to form a peripheral groove 29. The width of this groove is substantially equal to the length of the slits a and b, that is, it is substantially equal to the width of the desired slots g in the finished strips. The other member 14 carries a pair of parallel knives 30 so spaced a to enter the groove 29 and coact with the edges of the members 28 to fornr a pair of slits in the sheet by shearing cuts, and to force the severed pieces into-the groove 29. The outer or cutting edges of. the knives 30 are curved and are each of the proper length to form the slits 0." Each member 14 is rot-atabl adjustable On its shaft- 31 so as to bring t 1e cuts 0 into proper registry with the ends of the cuts a and I),

' or the shaft 31 itself may be rotatably adknives of the proper length of cutting edge in place ofvthe knives 30. v

For removing the severed pieces from the groove 29, I provide a stripper in the form of a curved wire, plate or bar 33, lying in the groove and extending through between the members 14 and 15 directly beneath the severed pieces as the latter are forced down into the groove. The stripper member 33 may be secured in position at one end as for instance by being pivoted on a transverse supporting rod 34. The other end of the stripper extends outwardly and downwardly in a substantially tangential direction, as shown in Fig. 5, so that as the member 15 rotates in a counter-clockwise direction, the severed piece at will be engaged by the stripper and forced out of the groove and permitted to drop into a trough, receptacle or other receiving means.

Beyond the members, 14, 15, the sheet passes through the cut off mechanism or chopper 16, 17. This may be of any desired form and is preferably so arranged that during the cut oif action the knives travel forward with the sheet at substantially the same speed as the latter, but are,

separated during the return movement so that the sheet may freely pass therebetween. The cut off mechanism illustrated may be the same as that'shown in my prior Patent No. 1,359,076, issued November 16th, 1920. The lower knife 17 may have reciprocatory carriers 36 freely movable'back and forth between a pair of feed rolls 37, 38. These cooperate with the feed rolls 39, 40 'for holding the sheet substantially taut during the cut ofl' action. From the feed rolls 37, 38, the sheet may be delivered between feed rolls 41, 42, the lower one of which may support a conveyor belt 43. If it is necessary to trim the edges of the sheet or to separate the strips by slitting, as well as by transversely cutting, there may be provided a pair of slitters 44, 45 between the rollers 37-38 and the rollers 41-42.

With the parts constructed. and adjusted substantially as shown inFigs. 1 to 5 inclusive,fthe cutoff mechanism may operate to sever the sheet along lines which coincide with one end-of each slot in each of the successive transverse rows of slots, as shown particularly in Fig. 6. Thus the apertures. formed by the removal of the pieces (i will correspond in shape, size, and position to the desired slots 9 in the finished strips 13. By means of my improved construction,' and without any substitution of any parts except by the insertion of longer knives 30, and. by the relative adjustment vof the other parts, a sheet A may be made substantially as shown in Fig. 7. Here the severed pieces (2' are each of a length substantially equal to twice the length of a desired slot-g in the finished strip.

w I v) -To accomplish this, one knife .19 is removed from each of the members 11 and 13, one pair of knives 30 is removed from the member 14, and the other pair is replaced by knives of twice the length of cutting edge. The shafts or members are then properly adjusted so that the cuts a, b, and a circumscribe the pieces d, and so that a trans verse cut it comes across a row of apertures intermediate of their ends, and the next successive transverse cut through the body of the. sheet "intermediate of two successive rows of apertures. will thus be apparent that different spacings and different lengths of the slots may be secured merely by a relative rotary adjustment of the parts, and without additional or substitute parts, except for knives 30.

The same general arrangement of parts may be employed for forming strips extending lengthwise instead of transversely. of the sheet. sheet A" in which the transverse slits a are very much longer and the longitudinal slits 0 very much shorter, so as to form longitudinally extending rows of transversely extending slots. With this arrangement, the cut off mechanism is timed to cut the sheet into sections C along lines is spaced apart to a length equal to the length of a strip, and the slitters 4445 are positioned to give longitudinal cuts m through each section to subdivide it into the final stri s. Thus the machines may be employed or carrying out the method defined in my Patent 1,441,359, issued January 9, 1923. For cutting the sheet as indicated in Fig. 8 the members 10, 11, and.12, 13 may be of exactly the construction and form as shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the only necessary change being the substitution of knives 19 of the proper length and the proper adjustment to bringthe cuts 01 and b at the proper distance apart. New members may be substituted in place of the members 14' employed forcutting sheets to give shingle strips of different forms or proportions. For

instance, in Fig. 9 I have shown thecuts of such length and so positioned as, to give comparatively wide recesses or notches in the edge ofthe' stri B, and to form the strips extending lengt wise of the sheet, while in Fig. 10, the same design of shingle strip is formed as is shown in Fig. 9, but the shingle stripsextend transversely of the sheet.

1 In this application I have not illustrated alLof the essential parts ,of a complete'machine, such for instance as the drivingmechanism and the connecting gearing and power transmitting parts for Insuring the roper timing and cooperation of the several cutters 5 comes in performing the desired result. It will be evident that these may be readily provided by anyone skilled in machine design, but as an instance of a specific form which may be employed, I refer to Patent No. 1,462,138, issued July 17, 1923. I reserve the right to illustrate in the present application any such supporting, driving, power transmitting and adjusting devices as are illustrated in said last mentioned patent, and which may be desirable for the full disclosure of the complete machine in this application.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. A machine for making shingle strips -with spaced recesses along one longitudinal edge thereof, including means for feeding lengthwise a sheet of prepared material, a pair of rotary members coacting to cut a series of spaced parallel slits in the sheet transversely thereof and each corresponding "to one edge of a recess of the shingle strip, a

second pair of rotary members coacting to cut a second series of slits parallel to and arranged alternately with the first mentioned slits in the same row, and each corresponding to the opposite edge of a recess, a third pair of rotary members coacting to cut a series of pairs of longitudinal slits corresponding to the other two edges of each recess and for removingthe circumscribed pieces to leave a ertures, and means for sub-dividing the sl leet lengthwise thereof into strips along lines intersecting a plurality of said apertures.

2. A machine for making shingle strips with spaced recesses along one longitudinal edge thereof, including sheet feeding means, a pair of rotary members coacting to out a series of spaced parallel slits in the sheet transversely thereof, a second pair of rotary members coacting to cut a second series of slits parallel to and arranged alternately with the first mentioned slits in the same row, a third pair of rotary members coacting to cut a series of pairs of longitudinal slits, the two slits of each pair serving to connect the ends of a slit of the first series with the ends of a slit of the second series to form an a erture in the sheet, and means for subdivi ing the sheet lengthwise thereof along lines intersecting a plurality of said apertures.

3. A; machine for making shingle strips with spaced recesses along one longitudinal edge thereof, including sheet feeding means, a pair of rotary members coacting to cut a series of spaced parallel slits in the sheet transversely thereoi, a second pair of rotary members coscting to cut a second series of slits parallel to and arranged. alternately with the first mentioned slits in the same It 528K862 spacing of each slit of the first series from an adjacent slit of the second series, a third pair of rotary members coacting to cut a series of pairs of longitudinal slits, the two slits of each pair serving to connect the ends of a slit of the first series with the ends of a slit of the second series, to form an aperture in the sheet, and means for subdividing the sheet along lines intersecting a plurality of said apertures.

i. A machine for making shingle strips with spaced recesses along one longitudinal edge thereof, including sheet feeding means, a pair of rotary members including a platen member presenting a hardened surface. and a knife carrying member, coat-ting to cut a series of spaced parallel slits in the sheet transversely thereof, a second pair of rotary members including a platen member presenting a hardened surface and a knife carrying member coacting to cut a second series of slits parallel to and arranged alternately with the first mentioned slits in the same row, a third pair of rotary members presenting opposed cutters coacting to cut a series of pairs of longitudinal slits, the two slits of each pairv serving to connect the ends of a slit of the first series with the ends of a slit ot-the, second series to form an aperture in the sheet, and means for subdividing the sheet along lines intersecting a plurality of said apertures.

5. A machine for making shingle strips with spaced recesses along one longitudinal edge thereof, including sheet feeding means, means for forming lengthwise of the sheet a series of parallel spaced slits extending transversely of the sheet, a pair of rotary members, one having a peripheral groove therein of a width equal to the length of said slits and the other having means coacting with the opposite edges of said groove to form a series of pairs oflougitudinal slits connecting the ends of each alternate slits of the first series with the ends of the next successive slit of the same series and to force the circumscribed pieces into said groove, and a stripper lying in said groove and projecting between said to i I tary members beneath said pieces, and having one end projecting outwardly from said groove to deliver said pieces therefrom.

6. A machine for making roofing elements from a sheet of waterprooted, mincral coated material, including sheet feeding means, a rotary cutter and co-acting platen member for forming a series of spaced transverse slits in the sheet, a second rotary cutter and co-actin'g platen member forforming a second series of spaced transverse slits in the sheet and arranged alternately with the slits of the first series, and a pair of coacting cutters for forming pairs of longitudinal slits'in said sheet. between each slit of the first series and rasacaa the adj aoent slit of the second series, whereby a series of longitudinal slots are formed in said sheet, and the circumscribed pieces are removed from the sheet, and means for removing said pieces from said pair of cutters.

7. A machine for making roofing elements from a sheet of waterproofed, mineral coated material, including sheet feeding means, a rotary cutter and co-actin platen member for forming a series spaced transverse slits in the sheet, a second rotary cutter and co-acting platen member for forming a second series of spaced transverse slits in the sheet and arranged alternately with the slits of the first series, a pair of coacting cutters for forming pairs of longitudinal slits in said sheet between each slit of the first series and the adjacent slit of the second series, whereby a series of longitudinal slots are formed in said sheet and the circumscribed pieces are removed from the sheet, means for removing said pieces from said pair of cutters, and means for cutting the sheet transversely on lines intersecting the apertures formed by the removal of said circumscribed pieces.

8. A machine for cutting sheet material, including sheet feeding means, a pair of rotary members coacting to cut a series of spaced slits in the sheet transversely'thereof, a second pair of rotary members coacting to cut a second series of transverse slits arranged alternately with the first mentioned slits in the same row, the members of the first and second pairs being relatively rotatable to vary the spacing of each slit of the first series from an adjacent slit of the second series, .a third pair of rotary members coacting to cut a series of pairs of longitudinal slits, the two slits of each pair serving to connect the ends of a slit of the first series with the ends of a slit of thev second series, to form an aperture in the sheet, and means for subdividing the sheet along lines intersecting a plurality of said apertures.

9. A machine of the class described, in-

eluding means for feeding a sheet of material endwise, three pairs of rotary coacting members, one pair acting to cut a row of pairs of longitudinal slits, another pair acting to cut a row of transverse slits, and the third pair acting to out another row of transverse slits, the parts being So 'positioned that the four slits thus formed intersect at their ends and thereby form' apertures.

10. A machine of the class described, including means for feeding a sheet of material endwise, three pairs of rotary coacting members, one pair acting to cut a row of pairs of 'slits and another pair acting to cut a row of slits at right angles to the first mentioned slits, and the third pair actingto cut another row of slits parallel to said second mentioned slits, the parts being so positioned and adjusted that the four slits define the. four sides of an aperture.

in claim 10, in which the first mentioned pair of members has means for supportin knives of various lengths, and the secon mentioned pair and the last mentioned pair are rotatably adjustable in respect to each other, whereby one dimension of the apertures may be varied at will.

12. A machine of the character defined inclaim 10, in which the first mentioned pair of members has means for supporting knives of various lengths, and the second mentioned pair and the last mentioned air .are adjustable in respect to each 0t er,

whereby one dimension of the apertures may be varied at will.

13. A machine of the character defined in claim 9, in which the first mentioned pair of members has means for supportin knives of various lengths, and the secon mentioned pair and the last mentioned pair arerotatably adjustable in respect to each other, whereby one dimension of the apertures may be varied at will.

is, A machine of the character defined in claim 9, in which the first mentioned pair of members has means for supportin knives of various lengths, and the secoiid mentioned pair and the last mentioned pair are adjustable in respect to each other, whereby the length of the apertures transversely of the sheet may be varied at will.

11, A. machine of the character defined 15 A machine of the class described, in-

'two pairs having means for forming transverse slits, the pairs being so positioned and adjusted that one transverse; slit comes at one end of the longitudinal sllts and the other at the opposite end to define apertures,,,and one of the three pairs having means for removing the severed pieces.

Signed at Camden in the county of Camden and State of New Jersey the 6th day of July, A. D. 1922.

1 i L M1 LANGSON, 

